Attachment Therapy almost always involves extremely confrontational, often hostile confrontation of a child by a therapist or parent (sometimes both). Restraint of the child by more powerful adult(s) is considered an essential part of the confrontation.

In addition to a loss of freedom of movement and autonomy, a child typically endures during therapy sessions:

Forced eye contact at close range

Shaking, bouncing or jerking the head

Screaming at him or her at close range

Knuckling the ribs

Relentless tickling

Being poked

Forced kicking for extended periods

Having an adult lie on him or her

Licking the face

Swearing at him or her (again at close range)

Having a hand held over the mouth

Looking under his or her clothes

Sitting on an arm or arms

Sitting on both legs

Pinching

Having hair pulled out

Being forced to repeat hateful things

Being told what s/he feels

Repeated accusations of lying

Hearing predictions that he or she is going to kill

Being deliberately scared and frightened

Told of events in infancy (or earlier) to evoke anger or resentment

Receiving believable threats of abandonment

Being blamed for all of a family’s problems

Elbows pressed hard into the abdomen

Disregarding all pleas for relief or to stop

Not being allowed to visit a bathroom

Belittlement and ridicule

Separating him or her from the parents

Demonization of the birth parents

Wrapping in a sheet to immobilize

Being directed to defecate or urinate in his or her clothes

A child does not receive:

genuine encouragement

empathy or understanding

recognition of personal dignity and autonomy

non-violent patterns after which to model his or her own behavior

reassurances of safety and reunion with parents

empowerment

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